All Chapters of Forced to Marry My Late Mother's Husband: Chapter 101 - Chapter 103

The morning light in the farmhouse was exceptionally pale. Aurora Blake walked down the dark wooden stairs at exactly six o'clock. She felt the heavy stillness of the house, but for the first time in five months, the silence did not feel like a barricade.She stepped across the threshold into the kitchen. The air was warm and smelled of dark roast coffee and toasted sourdough.Julian Oswald was standing at the center island. He wore a dark grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was not wiping the counter or checking his phone. He was simply waiting for the kettle to boil.Aurora stopped near the wooden table.The heavy, cream-colored envelope was still there. It sat in the exact center of the table, exactly where they had left it at two in the morning. The wax seal was broken, the thick paper unfolded."Good morning," Julian said.His deep voice was perfectly steady. It carried a resonance she had not heard in the morning hours before. It was the sound of a man who was no longer ho

The evening sun had surrendered to a deep, bruised purple over the Cedar Falls horizon. Aurora stood at the kitchen island, plating a simple pasta with roasted garlic and oil.Julian sat at the wooden table. He was already home from Oswald’s, which was becoming a frequent occurrence in this new register of their lives.Julian pulled a small, folded slip of white paper from his dark shirt pocket. He smoothed it out against the wood."Mrs. Gable sent a note home today," Julian said.His deep voice was remarkably calm. It carried the specific, quiet satisfaction of a man who no longer lived in fear of the next phone call from the school."Is everything all right?" Aurora asked.She set a steaming bowl of pasta in front of Lily."Everything is better than all right," Julian replied. "She says Lily contributed to the class discussion twice today."Aurora stopped moving. She looked down at the five-year-old child sitting between them."Twice?" Aurora whispered.Lily picked up her silver for